This year’s XXV Song and XV Dance festival ticket sales have generally been two times more rapid than those of 2008.

Song and Dance Festival press-secretary Inga Vasilyeva reports that 46 367 tickets have been sold so far. 5 996 tickets have been booked via phone. These form 89% of the total number of tickets available in public trade. Only 11% remain available for purchase.

More than 58 000 tickets were released on April 6. This means 70% of the total number of seats for the charged events of the Song and Dance Festival. 32% were purchased on the Internet, 10% via the phone, the rest was distributed through ticket shops.

37% of all tickets sold at specialised ticket shops were purchased in Riga, where the longest queues formed. Regional ticket sales had either small or no queues at all, Vasilyeva reports.

Director of the Latvian National Culture Centre Dace Melnbarde emphasized that the ticket sale system is constantly active, ticket sales do not halt for a single moment. “In regard to the upcoming Song and Dance Festival, it is important to make important decisions about cultural infrastructure, increasing the available number of seats. This year’s ticket price was truly democratic – 6.5 LVL on average”, – she said.

Melnbarde mentioned that, at its core, the Song and Dance Festival is nearly equal to the proclamation of independence of the Republic of Latvia and the day of restoration of independence. With that, the organizers of this festival are certain that the country’s high-ranking officials, including those of the Latvian parliament, have a responsibility to participate in the event that will be the culmination of the festival.

“In collaboration with the Latvian Large Families Association, we have invited officials to participate in a charity event and donate money, so that large families would be able to attend the festival”, – Melnbarde said.

As previously reported, shops began selling tickets for the Song and Dance Festival on April 6. Since then, 86% of the total number of tickets have been sold. The XXV Latvian Song and XV Dance Festival will take place in Latvia from June 30 to July 7.

There will be 62 events during the festive week; most of the events will be free of charge. The most notable events will be shown on television live.

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